Twenty seconds into the video West and Anthony both back away from Abbott, who flails and positions his legs as if to push himself back up.

At that point, Anthony steps one foot forward and lands a heavy kick to Abbott with the other. Abbott collapsed to the ground. West moved in to constrain Abbott and a third law enforcement officer, an unidentified Polk County Sheriff's deputy, appears in frame. The video ends as the car passes and the scene is occluded by an LPD SUV.

A second video, 9 seconds in length, shows West kneeling over Abbott as Anthony lands kicks from a standing position. Anthony kneels down to help restrain Abbott. Both officers strike him with their fists and the video ends as the deputy sheriff starts kneeling in to help.

LPD responds

Amid heavy criticism online after the videos were distributed by witnesses through social media, LPD responded late Tuesday night, saying the videos provided limited perspective of the incident which occurred at about 4:20 p.m.

West had seen Abbott sleeping under the overpass and "stopped to check on the safety of the male," the department said in the press release.

"Given the dangerous location of the Interstate access ramp and the agreement between the City of Lakeland and the Department of Transportation, West gave Abbott a trespass warning and informed him he would be required to leave the area," the department reported.

Anthony then arrived to assist.

Abbott refused to leave "several times," and was told he would be arrested, the officers reported, and Abbott began "actively resisting."

"During the struggle, Abbott pushed Officer Anthony, who fell to the ground while still holding on to Abbott. The momentum caused Abbott and Officer West to fall to the ground as well," the release continued. West used his Taser on Abbott to no effect, the LPD statement said.

"After a second attempt to deploy the (Taser), Officer Anthony observed Abbott grab Officer West's (Taser)," the department reported. Anthony struck Abbott several times before he was finally taken into custody.

Abbott was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center "as standard procedure when (a Taser) is deployed" and was found to have no "treatable" injuries, according to the department.

The officers were also taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Anthony to his wrist and West to his knee.

Abbott was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest and transported to the Polk County Jail.

'A college football kickoff'

As the videos spread on social media, drawing particular criticism was Anthony taking three steps backward, then making small steps forward to position one leg and then landing a hard kick with the other in a way some commenters described as resembling a football kickoff.

"It was just the way people looked at the video," LPD spokesman Gary Gross told The Ledger, and denied Anthony had kicked Abbott in the head.

Gross said Anthony wasn't stepping back to get leverage for a kick, but that both officers had separated as West was calling out "Taser! Taser!" which he said is standard procedure when using the electrical weapon to prevent friendly fire.

It was at this point Anthony saw Abbott go for West's Taser and kicked him in the arm, not the head as it may have appeared on the video, Gross said.

This is not apparent in the recording. When Anthony lands the kick West is standing and doesn't kneel back to Abbott until afterward.

"We kind of thought when people saw this they would react to a video that's one sided with no audio," Gross said. "We kind of expedited (the response) tonight. The chief looked at it, Internal Affairs looked at it. It all panned out. It's just people's perception of the video."

"We understand, when people see a video … they're only seeing one side of it. These aren't trained law enforcement officers who have engaged with a guy resisting arrest," Gross added.

He said since Abbott had resisted the Taser, "I don't know if this guy was juiced or whatever."

Though department leaders didn't see any immediate problem with the arrest, the incident, like all times officers use force, will be reviewed through the entire chain of command, Gross said.

A streetside view

Joel Alfaro said he was exiting Interstate 4 in his car when he came upon the scene. At that point the men were standing and the officers were punching Abbott, which led Alfaro to begin filming. He said he has had some phone problems and was only able to capture 9 seconds of video. The video appears to begin soon after the 32-second video shot by the other witness ended.

"All I saw was him getting roughed up; I didn't see him swing at all," Alfaro said of Abbott. "That was definitely way too much brutality."

After the first Taser shot Abbott fell to the ground, Alfaro said. He said he heard two shots from the electrical weapon.

The witness who recorded the longer video asked to remain anonymous, fearing getting caught up in what was expected to become a major event in the days to come.

Gross said he was not sure whether the police vehicles on the scene were equipped with dashboard cameras, and that the topic had not been raised at a meeting at LPD headquarters following the incident.

LPD officers do not wear body cameras, and not all LPD vehicles are equipped with dashboard cameras, Gross said. Further there is no guarantee the vehicles were placed to see the incident or that the cameras had been activated.

The department will release an arrest affidavit, a first-person account of the incident that led to an arrest, Wednesday, Gross said. And in the coming days and weeks the department will fully investigate the incident and prepare reports.

Christopher Guinn can be reached at Christopher.Guinn@theledger.com or 863-802-7592.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.